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Brevard Mall
Brevard Mall, '''later '''The Marketplace at Brevard, and now known as Brevard Business Center was a single level enclosed mall that opened in 1963. It had 2 anchors; JCPenney and Montgomery Ward, and 3 junior anchors; Eckerd, T.J. Maxx, and McCrory's. History The Brevard Mall opened in 1963 as the second mall built by the now famous Edward J. DeBartolo Company. It opened with two anchors, Penney's and Montgomery Ward, and three junior anchors, Eckerd, Winn-Dixie, and McCrory's. The mall also featured two shoes stores, Thom McAn Shoes and Kinney Shoes, and two independent tenants, Sunnybrite Laundry and Mac's Zoo Room. The Penney's was one of the first three stores to use the then brand new "funky P" logo, and was the first store to operate an auto center. In 1965, a Jordan Marsh owned Sportswear Colony store opened. In the early 1970s, the mall was enclosed to help compete with the newly opened Merritt Square Mall. In 1980, the Montgomery Ward was converted to the Miami-based Jefferson Ward banner, an experiment in an "upscale discount" store. In 1982, the Brevard Mall gained it's biggest and most serious competitor in the Melbourne Square Mall only 1.4 miles southwest. Due to the opening of a new JCPenney's at Melbourne Square Mall, the now aging location at the Brevard Mall closed. In 1986, Jefferson Ward went out of business, and the Brevard Mall location closed leaving the mall with both major anchors vacant. In addition, around this time the Winn-Dixie junior anchor closed as well. In 1987, the mall was acquired by Pittsburgh based real estate company J.J. Gumberg, who embarked on a 1.3 million dollar total renovation of the mall. In 1987, the former Jefferson Ward also reopened again as Montgomery Ward, and the former Winn-Dixie opened as a new TJ Maxx store. In 1997, Montgomery Ward pulled out of Florida as a part of their bankruptcy recovery plans, leaving the location at the Brevard Mall once again vacant. The remaining junior anchors also all vacated during this time, as TJMaxx relocated to a new location at the Palm Bay Center plaza, Eckerd closed as they began to focus on new freestanding stores over mall and shopping plaza locations, and McCrory's likely closed in the 1997 300-location closing round. By 1998-99, the mall, now known as The Marketplace At Brevard, had begun to be converted into office spaces. By the early 2000s, the mall had been renamed the Brevard Business Center, and fully converted to office spaces. Conexant, later Harris Corporation, and currently Cyient, occupy the former Montgomery Ward anchor space, with Percepta taking the former JCPenney. Teletech has taken the former Eckerd space, as well as a few smaller storefronts to either side, Rockwell Collins in the former TJMaxx/nee Winn Dixie space, and the McCrory space has been split between a few tenants. The rest of the interior has been carved up for offices for various companies, including Lincoln Motor Company and several radio stations. The former Montgomery Wards auto center is the last portion of the mall operating as a retail business, now home to Bennett Auto Supply, Jersey Mikes Subs, and a real estate office. Outparcels While in operation, the Brevard Mall only had one outparcel, a Rax Roast Beef opened in 1985 which closed in 1992 with Rax's bankruptcy and subsequent retreat from Florida. The location was then almost immediately converted to a Fazoli's, which lasted until 2008 when Fazoli's themselves pulled out of the Florida market. It then became a location for Irish sports-pub chain Beef o' Brady's, which lasted until it's unexpected closure in 2015. It's most recent tenant was local pizza shop Old School Pizza, who opened two weeks after Beef o' Brady's closure and lasted until 2018, citing a strong downturn in customers related to construction and road repair on nearby Babcock St as the reason for closure. As of 2019, the restaurant is being redeveloped for a new Arby's. In 2007, a 2.7 acre portion on the east facing section of the mall was sold to Marriott Corporation, who built a new Residence Inn which opened in 2008. Category:Shopping Malls Category:Malls in Florida Category:Malls in the United States Category:Defunct Single-Level Malls